American Politics Research Team
The American Politics Research Team (APRT) was founded in 2015 by Dr. Gibbs Knotts and Dr. Jordan Ragusa. The APRT’s mission is to conduct empirical research on important topics in American Politics, contribute to public discourse by researching timely political issues, and help students develop their research skills. In order to meet this mission, faculty and a select group of College of Charleston undergraduates work collaboratively to produce original research and write policy reports, op-eds, blog posts, and other nonpartisan opinion pieces. Our team focuses specifically on the study of political institutions, public opinion, elections, and political behavior.
Visit our Team Members Page for a list of the projects our students are working on.
Publications, Presentations, and Media
March 2019: Lauren Johnson and Deon McCray's second paper (with Dr. Amira and Dr. Ragusa) was accepted for publication in the journal Perspectives on Politics.
January 2018: Lauren Johnson and Deon McCray's paper (with Dr. Ragusa) was published in the journal Research & Politics.
May 2017: Jamie Craven and John Thevos’ paper (with Dr. Ragusa) was published in the Journal of Political Science.
March 2017: Lauren Johnson presented the result of her research (with Deon McCray and Dr. Jordan Ragusa) at the Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference at Elon University.
March 2017: Deon McCray presented the results of his research (with Lauren Johnson and Dr. Jordan Ragusa) at the College of Charleston’s Moore Conference.
February 2017: Lauren Johnson was selected by the Honor’s College to represent the College of Charleston at the Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference. Her travel and conference registration fees were fully funded by the Honor’s College.
June 2016: Anthony Gaspar’s paper (with Dr. Ragusa) was published in the journal Political Research Quarterly.
March 2016: Jamie Craven and John Thevos presented their research at the Citadel Symposium on Southern Politics.
March 2016: Matt Tarpey’s paper (with Dr. Ragusa) was published in the journal Political Science Quarterly.
November 2015: Jamie Craven and John Thevos (with Dr. Knotts and Dr. Ragusa) authored a white paper analyzing Charleston’s mayoral election. As part of the American Politics Research Team, a dozen College of Charleston students conducted exit polls asking voters their opinions on a wide range of topics.
November 2015: Dr. Knotts and Dr. Ragusa published an article in the Post & Courier on Charleston’s mayoral election. It was based on the exit polling data compiled by the American Politics Research Team.
March 2015: Frank Martin presented the results of his research (with Dr. Ragusa) at the Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference at Drexel University.
February 2015: Anthony Gaspar presented the results of his research (with Dr. Ragusa) at the South Carolina Political Science Association’s annual conference.
February 2015: Frank Martin was selected by the Honor’s College to represent the College of Charleston at the Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference. His travel and conference registration fees were fully funded by the Honor’s College.
February 2014: Matt Tarpey presented the results of his research (with Dr. Ragusa) at the South Carolina Political Science Association’s annual conference.
